BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

Modern Fables Media Brand 📖 

Aesop rocky

Available Domain: Fablereel.com

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: Throughout human history, knowledge has been passed down through stories. Told around fires. Whispered between generations. Now we just get questions like this on Twitter…

But stories are incredibly effective for learning, since we’re hardwired to remember them. But today, particularly in the self-development space, we’re drowning in data, statistics and pithy quotes. Imagine instead if timeless insights from thinkers like Huberman, Naval, and Tim Ferriss were wrapped in short, beautifully illustrated fables? Stories that feel like myths but speak to modern minds, like CGP Grey’s tale of the Dragon Tyrant, which has 10 million views and counting. Here’s what we have in mind.

Market Size: The self-improvement market is valued at $45bn globally

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: A storytelling brand that transforms deep ideas from modern thinkers (like Naval, Huberman) into short fables for adults and kids.

How it Works:

• You take big lessons and ideas from modern thinkers and write fables in the style of Aesop which capture the essence of these lessons

• You convert these stories into different media formats, such as atmospheric podcasts and a newsletter with beautiful illustrations

• You share this content at a particular cadence (say one per week), monetize the audience through ads and eventually expand into other verticals like books by compiling the stories together

Go-to-market: Start with a single niche, say podcasts, grow your audience then start to partner with big influencers to guest star in fables

Business Model: Sell ads on podcast and newsletter content, eventually compile them into books

Startup Costs: By using AI to write the fables and for the voices you could start this very cheaply

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: Sell to a brand like Spotify or Calm who want to put the brand on their platform

Exit Multiple: 3x–5x revenue for a brand with strong IP, 8x–12x EBITDA if positioned as a high-margin media/licensing play

TOGETHER WITH LIQUID WEB

Hosting Designed for Growth

Your business is scaling, your hosting should too. Liquid Web offers a range of solutions tailored for growth, ensuring your online presence remains robust and responsive.

• Lightning-fast VPS speeds for enhanced performance

• Powerful dedicated hosting for maximum control

• The best value in WordPress hosting

High-performance hosting minus the high price.

Because you read Half Baked, you get up to 77% off.

Learn more

DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Zoom Pants

• Love working from the comfort of your own home? Terrified you’ll be made to stand up on a call revealing you’re in your jammies (or aren’t wearing trousers at all…)

• Introducing Zoom Pants™, the revolutionary trousers that look like you’re closing deals, but feel like you’re binge-watching Love Is Blind

• Zoom Pants™, because business casual should actually be casual.

Vote

• ✅ Yes this actually exists

• ❌ Nope you totally made this up

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Hydrogen Water

• As we all learned in school water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. But lately a new trend has taken off…water with extra hydrogen.

• Hydrogen water is regular water (H₂O) that has been infused with molecular hydrogen gas (H₂). The idea is that adding extra hydrogen molecules to water may offer health benefits due to hydrogen’s antioxidant properties.

• It’s claimed that it boosts energy and recovery, improves skin health and aging and supports metabolic health

Business Ideas

• Hydrogen Tablet Brand: Offer dissolvable tablets that generate hydrogen when dropped into water.

• Hydrogen Water Machines: Smart vending machines that dispense cold hydrogen water at gyms, yoga studios, and coworking spaces.

TOGETHER WITH KIXIE

Increase call connection rates by 400%

Tired of getting ignored? Increase your call connection rates by 400% with ConnectionBoost – the easiest and most affordable local presence dialer.

Local Presence Dialing ensures prospects see a familiar number, AI-Powered Spam Minimization keeps you out of spam folders, and Progressive Number Rotation keeps your outreach fresh and effective. More live answers mean more sales.

If that sounds complicated, don’t worry—just know you’ll 4X your connections and close more deals.

Book a free demo today and mention Half Baked for 10% off.

THE MONEYSHOT

How Saving a Dive Bar Became a $650m Business

No two startups have the same origin story.

Take these two college students stumbled into a $650m idea by trying to save a dive bar.

This is their story.

Back in 2011, Walker Williams (right) and Evan Stites-Clayton were students at Brown University. And as college students they did their best to split their time between their studies and getting wasted in bars. And one of their favorites was a little dive bar called Fish Co.

But one day, to the duo’s dismay, this cherished Providence dive bar announced it was closing its doors. So in order to commemorate the bar’s legacy, the pair decided to design a "FREE FISHCO" t-shirt. But immediately they had a problem.

As two broke college kids they didn’t have the cash to produce the t-shirts (we’ve all been there). So they decided to build a simple website to allow customers to pre-order the shirts, aiming for 200 sales to cover costs. To their surprise, they sold over 400 shirts which they then used the funds to produce, netting a $2,000 profit.

In under 12 hours, they had hacked together a site that sold hundreds of shirts. Soon, requests poured in from student groups and nonprofits all over campus to use their service.

Realizing the potential of their approach, Walker and Evan decided to build a platform where anyone could create and sell custom apparel without upfront costs or inventory risks, mimicking the approach they took. By 2012 they were ready to go live.

They launched Teespring.

Their innovative model quickly gained traction. By October 2012, Teespring was generating over $500,000 in monthly sales. This momentum attracted the attention of investors.

In February 2012, Teespring secured a $675k seed round and in December 2013, they joined the Y Combinator which led to a $1.3 million angel investment in April 2013.

With investment behind them the company exploded thanks to viral t-shirt campaigns and Facebook ads. Revenue was ripping and the funding spree continued.

In January 2014, Teespring raised a $20 million Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, followed by a $35 million Series B in November 2014 led by Khosla Ventures at a $650m valuation. They were riding high, but scaling this quickly led to challenges.

Teespring's heavy reliance on Facebook ads for customer acquisition became a vulnerability when algorithm changes in 2015 reduced ad effectiveness, impacting sales. They also had issues with quality control and bit by bit sales started to decline.

The decline in business performance was so pronounced that Teespring had to go through a recapitalization process in 2017 which reduced its valuation to about $11 million. Ouch.

In 2020, Teespring rebranded to “Spring” and pivoted to partnering with creators on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. They became less of a “viral shirt campaign” tool and more of a creator commerce platform. This strategic pivot put the business on surer footing, however it never again reached the heights it did in 2014.

In 2022, Spring was acquired by Amaze Software, Inc. (backed by Kevin Hart and a group of investors). The terms weren’t disclosed publicly, but it’s likely to have sold for a fraction of its 2014 valuation. Still a decent outcome, but not what the founders were hoping for.

All of which goes to prove that growth needs to be built on a solid foundation. Over-reliance on a single acquisition channel or going viral is a great way to grow short term, but may not last in the long term.

Regardless, Teespring still carved out its place in Silicon Valley history, something that so few companies manage to achieve.

And that’s something worth putting on a t-shirt.

1 - 1 FOUNDER FEEDBACK

We Need Your Help

We're on a mission to become the world's #1 entrepreneurship newsletter, but to do that we need your help. Got feedback, ideas, or thoughts on what you’d love to see next? This is your chance to help shape Half Baked. Darragh (our Head Baker) is opening up his calendar just for you. Click here to book a 15 minute call.